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Wednesday, August 13, 2008

CONAN!

CONAN!

Conan the Barbarian is back to conquer this generation of moviegoers.

Lionsgate has hired Dirk Blackman and Howard McCain to rework a script for "Conan" after their success penning a script for "Amazon," another heroic fantasy film by Lionsgate that has attached Scarlett Johansson as the lead, according to The Hollywood Reporter. A search is on for directors for both projects.

In the vein of "Batman Begins," Lionsgate hopes to rejuvenate the Conan franchise by going back to the source material, the 1930s pulp stories by Robert E. Howard, to create a $100 million R-rated origin film.

Fans expect [these types of movies] to be more true to the source material," says CEO and president of Paradox Entertainment Fredrik Malmberg, who will produce the feature with Boaz Davidson, Joe Gatta and Avi Lerner of Millennium Films. "There's no reason there couldn't be a Conan movie every two years. He's almost like Batman: He's a dark hero. He's a hard hero. He has to be badass, but we also have to like him."

The Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, is probably the most popular incarnation of the sword-wielding character. He starred in the '80s films "Conan the Barbarian" and "Conan the Destroyer."